Venetian (Civ5)
The Venetians are to be added to Civilization V, in the upcoming expansion called Brave New World. The Venetians are similar to the Huns in that they only have one city in their city list. Unlike the Huns, this is because the Venetians can only build one city, and no conquered cities can be annexed. This makes Venice essentially a playable city-state, and likely may cause them to be a target for early elimination in the game, especially if they are neighbors with the more militaristic leaders such as Alexander, Montezuma, and Napoleon. However, it is also likely that the Venetian AI will be made to better hold off invasion by enemies, likely building more soldiers and defensive structures early on, rather than building settlers. History Venice was originally founded by Roman refugees from northeastern Italy fleeing from Germanic and Hunnic invasions to the marshy lagoons that would become Venice. As the Lombards, a Germanic tribe, immigrated into Italy, the Byzantines, in the wake of the fall of Rome, createed the Exarchate of Ravenna, an administration led by a Byzantine Exarch (viceroy) out of the port of Ravenna that kept control of Byzantine sections of Italy until 727, in which soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate rose up in the wake of Byzantine Iconoclasm under the strong urging of Pope Gregory II, murdering the Exarch, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, who is traditionally viewed as the first Doge of Venice, and sending officials. Following this, Venice elected their actual first Doge, Ursus. Venice was left as one of the last Byzantine territories in Italy after the Lombard king Aistulf conquered the rest of the Exarchate of Ravenna in 751. During this period, Byzantine administration moved to Malamocco, and additional refugees fled to the Venetian lagoons from Byzantine territorities in the wake of Lombard conquest. In 810 administration was moved to Rialto, the current location of the city of Venice. From the 9th to th 12th century, Venice developed into what became known as the Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice or the Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia. From this point, Venice became a maritime city-state that acted as a crucial trade link between Western Europe and the East, mostly Byzantium and the Islamic world. They began to expand in the area surrounding the city, and along the Adriatic Sea and into the Aegean Sea, adding several regions on the western coast of the Balkans including Dalmatia and Ragusa, the Peloponnese, Euboea, Crete, Cyprus, and even the Byzantine city of Adrianople and surrounding areas, as well as others. Venetian expansion eventually led to anti-western sentiment in Byzantium and subsequently to the Masacre of the Latins in Constantinople, a genocide in which Italians, especially Venetians, living in Constantinople were targetted. Outrage against this massacre led to the Fourth Crusade from 1202-1204, in which Italians, including Venetians led by their blind Doge, Enrico Dandolo, invaded the Byzantine Empire and founded the Latin Empire, an Italian empire in former Byzantine territory with Constantinople as its capital. As the years passed, Venice began to decline, losing much of its outlying territories to the Byzantines and later the Ottomans. Then, in 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte's army, while searching for Austrian enemies during the War of the First Coalition, Napoleon invaded and occupied a neutral Republic of Venice, conquering it in 1797. In the subsequent Treaty of Campo Formio ending the War of the First Coalition, Venice was ceded to Austria, but was retaken by Napoleon in 1805 and added it to his puppet Kingdom of Italy, until Napoleon's defeat in 1814, in which Venice was returned to Austria. In 1866, Venice attained independence from Austria and joined the newly formed Kingdom of Italy. Venice has been a part of Italy since. City list * Venice (formerly a City-State) * No other Venetian cities can be founded. venice screen.jpg Venetia in game.jpg|Venice Screen 2